This site was probably just a few miles east of the Jordan Valley (v. 22). The Jabbok joins the Jordan River about midway between the Sea of Chinnereth (Galilee) and the Salt (Dead) Sea.733
It was when Jacob was alone, having done everything he could to secure his own safety, that God came to him (v. 24). An unidentified man assaulted Jacob, and he had to fight for his life. The "man"was the Angel of the Lord (vv. 28-30). Note that God took the initiative in wrestling with Jacob, not vice versa. God was bringing Jacob to the end of himself. He was leading him to a settled conviction that God was superior to him and that he must submit to God's leadership in his life (cf. Rom. 12:1-2).
"The great encounter with God came when Jacob knew himself to be exposed to a situation wholly beyond him."734
This was not a vision or a dream, but a real event. The injury to Jacob's hip joint proves this. It was God's third revelation to Jacob.
Jacob's refusal to release the man indicates the sincerity of his felt need for God's help (v. 26; cf. John 15:5). Again Jacob demonstrated his strong desire for blessing.
"Jacob completed, by his wrestling with God, what he had already been engaged in even from his mother's womb, viz. his striving for the birthright; in other words, for the possession of the covenant promise and the covenant blessing . . . . To save him from the hand of his brother, it was necessary that God should first meet him as an enemy, and show him that his real opponent was God Himself, and that he must first of all overcome Him before he could hope to overcome his brother. And Jacob overcame God; not with the power of the flesh however, with which he had hitherto wrestled for God against man (God convinced him of that by touching his hip, so that it was put out of joint), but by the power of faith and prayer, reaching by firm hold of God even to the point of being blessed, by which he proved himself to be a true wrestler of God, who fought with God and with men, i.e., who by his wrestling with God overcame men as well."735
By his wrestling with God Jacob began a new stage in his life (v. 28); he was a new man because he now began to relate to God in a way new for him. As a sign of this, God gave him a new name that indicated his new relationship to God. Israel means "God's warrior."
"The acknowledgment of the old name, and its unfortunate suitability [Jacob, v. 27], paves the way for the new name [Israel, v. 28]."736
". . . the name Israel denoted a spiritual state determined by faith; and in Jacob's life the natural state, determined by flesh and blood, still continued to stand side by side with this. Jacob's new name was transmitted to his descendants, however, who were called Israel as the covenant nation. For as the blessing of their forefather's conflict came down to them as a spiritual inheritance, so did they also enter upon the duty of preserving this inheritance by continuing in a similar conflict."737
"Elohim"occurs here to bring out the contrast between God and His creature. Jacob prevailed, in the sense of obtaining his request, by acknowledging his dependence and cleaving to God as his deliverer.
"One wonders if Why is it that you inquire about my name?' [v. 29] is another way of asking, Jacob, don't you realize who I am?'"738
Another view is that God withheld His name to heighten Jacob's awe at this great event and to impress the significance of the event on Jacob all the more.
Jacob believed that he had seen God face to face (v. 30). The ancients believed that anyone who saw God face to face would die (cf. Exod. 33:20; Judg. 13:21-22). He was probably also grateful that the Angel had not dealt with him more severely, as he deserved. "Peniel"sounds more like "face of God"in Hebrew than the more common Penuel.
The result of this spiritual crisis in Jacob's life was obvious to all who observed him from then on (v. 31). It literally resulted in a change in his walk.739
"When God touched the strongest sinew of Jacob, the wrestler, it shriveled, and with it Jacob's persistent self-confidence."740
Every Christian does not need to have this type of drastic experience. Abraham and Isaac did not. God has told us that we can do nothing without Him (John 15:5) and that we should believe Him. It is only when God's elect do not believe Him that He must teach us this lesson. Sometimes He has to bring us very low to do it. Every Christian should yield himself or herself to the lordship of God (Rom. 6:13, 19; 12:1-2).
"If only the swimmer yields to the water, the water keeps him up; but if he continues to struggle, the result is disastrous. Let us learn to trust, just as we learn to float."741
To become strong in faith the believer must forsake self-sufficiency.742
